Bilic happy with ‘very good result’ after draw at Brighton
West Brom manager Slaven Bilic believes their draw away at Brighton is a ‘very good result’.
Baggies midfielder Jake Livermore scored an unfortunate own goal in the 40th-minute which put the home side ahead.
After going into the break 1-0 down, Bilic’s side came out strongly in the second half. They soon started to ask questions of Brighton’s defence.
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They finally managed to equalise in the 83rd-minute. Recent signing Karlan Grant scored his first goal for the club after being assisted by Callum Robinson.
Speaking after the match to BBC Sport, Bilic said: “To come here and get that second half performance made me happy and made me proud. If it was ten more minutes I had the feeling it was us who would score a second goal.
“I said to be braver and to risk a bit more in their box. Show determination. We passed so many good balls in the second half in this pocket that was hurting them.
“The whole package beyond the point makes it a very good result for us.
“To come here and produce a very good performance gives us as newcomers a really good platform to believe.”
When asked about the goalscorer Grant, he said: “If I had to pick one player to score it is him because he is our striker. He took the goal really well.
“In the second half he and the whole team was very dangerous. He took his goal really well, he didn’t panic, he didn’t want to shoot just for the sake of shooting. He acted like a proper centre forward.”
The manager also spoke about the departure of Ahmed Hegazi. The Egyptian defender left for Saudi Arabia recently. Bilic said: “I wanted him to stay. He has experience, he is a top professional. I wanted him to stay and he wanted to stay.
“Then something happened and then he is off, although I had assurances from the club that he would stay.
“Of course I am not pleased. I am really disappointed because we need players. There is of course the economic side but we are a football club.”